Governor-actuated fluid-controller.



F. HENNEBHLE. GOVERNOR ACTUATED FLUID' CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED yAUG|.I6| 1915.

, 'PatenedAug 21,1917.

FRANK HENNEBI-ILE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GOVEBNOR-ACTUATEI) FLUID-CONTROLLER.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Ang. a1, 1917.

Application iiled August 16, 1915. Serial No. 45,658.

To all whom it may concern.'

Beit known that I, FRANK HENNEBHLE, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State oflllinois, have invented certain new and useful lmprovementsin Governor-Actuated Fluid- Controllers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

`My invention relates to means for controlling the supply of iiuid used in connection with a rotating appliance, its general object being to provide means for making the supply of fluid responsive to the speed of rotation, or lack of rotation, of the appliance with which my invention is used. A

further object is to provide means for re-V ducing the power required for effecting the desired control of theiiuid supply, thereby enabling a quite sensitive governor to control the fluid even when the latter is being supplied under a considerable pressure.

In its general aspects, the controller of my invention maybe usedfor a variety of purposes, of whichl shall mention only two as illustrative of its applications. Thus, in the manufacture of confectionery the materials are often heated in revolving drums, the heating being eifected by gas jets lighted by suitable pilot means. These drums have to be stopped occasionally for replenishing, or removing, or examining their contents, and at `every stop the gas must be turned low (or turned oif entirely except for the pilot flames), otherwise the Vmaterial at one side of the stationary drums may easily be overheated ,and spoiled.y Then when the drums are again set in motion, considerable time is often lost while the gas is again being turned on, which would not be the case if the supply of gas were automatically subject to the speed of rotation yof the drums as contemplated by my invention.

So also, in grinding pulp for the manufacture of paper or the like, the pulp is commonly forced against `the stone by a piston operated by hydraulic pressure and the effectiveness of the grinding depends considerably upon the maintaining of a proper speed of rotation for the stones. However, this speedis easily checked by an excess of pressure between the piston and the stone, hence the desirability of a controller for the hydraulic pressure which will make the lataims to utilize some of this pressure for approXimately balancing the, control valve, thereby permitting the desired sensitiveness of control.

Besides aiming to provide controllers adapted for such widely varied uses7 my invention also aims to provide a controller having very few parts, one requiring little or no adjustment, and one capable of with-` standing long continued use without appreciable deterioration. Further objects will appear from the following speciiication and from the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 'is a view, partly in section, of a controller embodying my invention and suitable for controlling fluid supply at high pressures.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the movable valve member of the embodiment of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view, partially in section, of a low pressure fluid controller embodying a Y simplified form of my invention.

In the embodiment of'Fig. 1, my invention includes an approximately balanced valve having a movable valve member slidable within a body 2, which body or pipefitting has an inlet 3 for thesupply of iiuid and a plurality of outlets 4, the latter being suitably connected to the pistons associated with the grinding stones. The mechanism rotating the stones is suitably connected with the pulley 5 of a centrifugal governor of any desired type, as for eXampleone having a pair of balls 6 carriedby arms 7 connected through links 8 toa non-rotatable, sliding shaft 9. Connected to thisfshaft is a stem 11 extending vertically through the movable valve member and equipped at its lower end with a truste-conical head, `or auxiliary valve 14E, fitting a tapering seat 13 in the lower end of the said valve member.y

The stem 11k is preferably considerably smaller in section than the verticai bore 12 of the said valve member, thus aifording passages through which fluid may pass from the lower to the uppery end of the valve member when the head 111 is moved oft1 the seat 13. r1`he valve member has at its upper end a cylindrical head 15 slidably fitting a bore 1G in the body member 2, and has at its lower end a head 17 ground to fit a tapering seat 1S at the upper end of the inlet 3, these heads being preferably connected by webs 19 radiating from the central tube 2() which houses the said bore 12.

Then the grinding stone or other appliance rotationa'lly connected to the pulley 5 isstanding still, the weight of the gov ernor balls 6 acting through the arms 7 and shaft 9 raises the latter and hence presses the head 11 of the stem 11 tightly against the seat 13, thereby preventing fluid from entering the chamber 21 above the upper head 16 of the `movable valve member. Consequently, the pressure of fluid entering the inlet 3 is free to force the valve member upward againstthe seat 18, thus effectively shutting off the supply of pressure-exerting fluid to the pistons. However, as soon as the stone rotates sufficiently rapidly so that the centrifugal force of the balls 6 carried by` the shaft v9 overcomes the weight of these balls, 'this shaft and the auxiliary valvelt will bel lowered, thereby admitting fluid through the passages alongside the stem 11 and through grooves 22 upon the head15 to the said space 21, where the fluid .may act in a downward direction upon the movable valve member. By suitably proportioning the diameter of the seat 1S with respect to that vof the head 15,1 can readily cause the upward pressure of the fluid :under the head 17 to exceed the said downward pressure only by an amount sufficient to sustain the weight of the movable valve member, so that the governor will only be called upon to move the shaft 9 and will not be obliged to lift the valve member 1.

By varying the relative sizes of the upper and: lower heads, the valve portion of my appliance may be designed to match different fluid pressures and different weights of the movable member, and when so proportioned will need no adjusting whatever for continuous and effective operation.

There the appliance of my invention is to be used with low pressure fluids, such as the supply of gas for yheating a rotating drum, the movable valve member may be built comparatively lightand may be connected direct to the sliding shaft of the governor (as in F ig. 3) as no auxiliary preso sure will be needed for moving such a relativelyilight valve against a comparatively nominal fluid pressure. In this case, the inletS will be disconnected from the outlet 4 by theY valve when the governor is at rest, thus leaving only the usual pilot flames burning under the rotatable drum. lhen thelatter is rotated, the governor will open the valve, thereby supplying gas for heating the drum, but automatically shutting off this supply when the rotation ceases. Thus the control of the gas will be instantaneously proportioned to the speed of rotation of the drum and there will be no danger of overheating the contents of the drum while the latter is rotating at less than its normal speed or is standing still. This prompt action is particularly desirable in case the machinery is stopped or otherwise liam pered by accidents, in which cases my appliance affords a positive safeguard for avoidingan overheating` or burning of the heated material or even a possible explosion.

W'hile 1 have described two applications of my governor-actuated controlling device, it will be obvious that 'the same might be adapted to a great many other uses. It willy also be obvious that the operation is not dependent upon theparticular details of construction herein shown (such as the use of a weighted arm type of governor), since the construction might be varied in many ways without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a supply of fluid under pressure, of a machine driven by means other than said fluid, and a speed regulator for` said machine comprising a hollow body member having portions of its interior connected respectively to the said machine and said fluidsupply, a partition in said member equipped with a perforation separating said portions, said member also having a substantially cylindrical bore in axial alinement with said perforation, a valve member equipped at one end for slidably fitting said bore, said valve member extending through the perforation and equipped at its other end with a head adapted to seat on the partition, one of the aforesaid elements being equipped with a passage connecting the vportions of the interior of the body member at opposite ends of the valve member, and means responsive to the speed ofthe said machine for controlling the said passage.

2. The combination with a. pipe fitting for transmitting fluid under pressure, of a machine driven by means other than said fluid, and a speed regulator for said machine comprising a valve member disposed within said fitting and having a head continuously subject to the pressure of the fluid and an oppositely disposed smaller head, the said member having a passage admitting fluid opposed to said smaller head, a pilot valve movably mounted on said member and controlling said passage, and a governor responsive to the speed of said machine and connected to the pilot valve for moving the latter with respect to the valve member 'to admit fluid under pressure for operation against the said smaller head, the latter pressure cro-operating' With the Weight of the valve member 'to balance the pressure of the fluid onk the first named head.

`3. A controller for a machine braked by lfluid under pressure and inversely responsive kin speed to the pressure of fluid supplied to the machine, comprising,` a verti oally movable valve member arranged for throttling Jche supply of fluid and having an upper head and a relatively larger lower head, means for continuously supplying luid at its maximum pressure to the larger head, a governor/responsive to the speed of Copies of this patent may be obtained forrfive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, I

Jhe machine, and means carried by the valve member and disposed in the main supply path of the said fluid and controlled by the governor for admitting said Huid opposite to the smaller head, the pressure of the fluid on the smaller head coacting With the Weight of the valve member to move the latiter against the pressure of Huid upon the larger head, thereby varying the extent of the said throttling of the fluid supplied for braking the said machine.

FRANK HENNEBHLE.

Washington, D. C. 

